A common feature of known apparatus of the type noted above is a set of sharpened pins, prongs, or needles, which can be selectively moved into and out of positions in which the pins, prongs, or needles penetrate a piece of material to be handled. Various mechanisms have been used to move the pins, prongs, or needles into and out of such positions. Typically, the pins, prongs, or needles move in opposed pairs, which converge as the pins, prongs, or needles are moved into such positions, and which diverge as the pins, prongs, or needles are moved out of such positions. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,505,468, 4,009,786, 3,981,495, 3,386,763, and 3,240,358.
Although such known apparatus have been successfully used for textile applications and the like, some applications present special problems to which such known apparatus may not be well suited. As an example of an application presenting such problems is a sheet-molding composition (SMC) which has come into commercial use as a substitute for sheet metal for automobile panels, such as hoods, roofs, and deck lids. Such a composition is a resin-impregnated composite which includes one or more layers of fibrous non-woven sheet material, which prior to molding is not only flimsy and unsupported, so as to be easily torn when handled, but also sticky, so as to tend to cling to whatever means are used to handle such material.
Accordingly, there has heretofore been a need, to which this invention is addressed, for an improved handling apparatus of the type noted above.